CyclingNews - Bookwalter: Riders have never needed a strong union more than now
The life of the professional cyclist can be a lonely one at the best of times, but the trade has rarely felt more solitary than it does now, against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. All racing is suspended for the foreseeable future and riders are compelled to train alone, in most cases on turbo trainers in the privacy of their own homes.
Despite their enforced seclusion, Brent Bookwalter maintains that he and his peers must strive to be united during the ongoing hiatus if they are to succeed in having their concerns dealt with during this period of uncertainty.
“In a perfect world, we would have a riders’ union that was equipped and poised to step in at a time like this. If there was ever a time when we need them, this is going to be it,” Bookwalter told Cyclingnews.
“In the whole of my career, there’s never been a moment when we’ve needed a strong and united riders’ union more than now. That association has made some progress over the course of my career but we’re the smallest fish in the ocean for sure. Our conditions and our circumstances get dictated by the other powers more than anything. We don’t have a whole lot of leverage.”
The professional riders’ association, the CPA, was among the stakeholders invited to participate in an emergency teleconference organised by the UCI last week, but Bookwalter, a director of its North American branch, the ANAPRC, is aware that the concerns of riders struggle to be heard over those of the governing body, race organisers and teams.